Swiped from GD (on the male-dominated blogosphere):

[BlueIris]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1557710

[Katherine Brengle]

1. copy of my original response

The blogosphere is just as hostile to women as the real world.

Honestly.

This past week, a number of feminist sites and blogs were hacked and flooded with oversized photo files, threatening posts, and porn. It was an organized attack, the purpose of which was to intimidate and shut down these bloggers.

(The same happened to some gay blogs/sites and other minority sites at the same time.)


-------------------------------------------------

I'm sure there's more to discuss, will be back later.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. Funny that.

Harmless and non-degrading porn (according to its defenders on DU) being used to harass and intimidate women on the blogosphere. Gee, I wonder why the bullies would think it was such an effective way to do that....:sarcasm:

[Katherine Brengle]

3. EXACTLY!

Argh.

[efhmc]

12. Great Point. Because porn is by its very nature degrading and those

who are degraded are in the main: women.

[bliss_eternal]

4. My opinion....

...the blogosphere is worse than the real world toward women. In cyberspace, these guys are anonymous. They can say and do anything and there's no sense of accountability--like charges (and real world consequences)for stalking, harassment, verbal assault, restraining orders, etc.

Bigots, misogynists, homophobes, all forms of hate-filled and intolerant can roam free pretty much unchecked in cyberspace. Even pedophiles have figured out how to work the internet system to get their kicks. Places I once naively believed were safe and free of such things I'm no longer deluded about. I see things clearly as they are (sadly).

Too many of those in charge of websites and boards don't seem to be taking notice of this, or they are incapable of seeing abuse for what it is. As such, they are reluctant to place limits, boundaries and no tolerance guidelines in place to protect certain populations. For whatever reason, that is their right and choice. All I can do is take care of me. It's one of the reasons I spend far less time and energy here and on-line in general.

[efhmc]

13. I wonder why more care is not taken to stop this phenomena at

supposedly liberal sites. The reason is that even the best of men just don't get it and are unwilling or unable to give up their power to make those sites gender equal. (Yes, of course, I am including DU.)

[knitter4democracy]

5. I think it's even bigger.

Look at knitbloggers (vast majority female). We're the biggest segment of blogs, and we're often slammed on sports blogs and other male-dominated sites and areas of the net. So, we all pretty much just stick to our own. It's safer. I've seen a knitblogger take on a sportsblogger and win, but then he got nasty, as did his probably male commenters, when he saw how many of us showed up to help.

If it's happening in the knitblogs and the political blogs and the techblogs, it's happening everywhere. Sick.

[BlueIris]

6. Can you say more about the knitbloggers?

Maybe make your own thread about the phenom? I find that really interesting, from a feminist standpoint.

[knitter4democracy]

7. Some things have been written, I think.

I'd have to research it a bit.

A couple of blogs I recommend if you're interested:

http://yarnharlot.ca/blog (She's pretty much the biggest knitblogger out there. Freakin' funny.)

http://crazyauntpurl.com (I really like her, even though she doesn't have tons on knitcontent.)

http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com (Gay knitblogger who has a serious following for his cartoons.)

http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/ (She's now the editor of the biggest knitting mag, Interweave Knits.)

http://knittyboard.com (very active messageboard--no politics or nastiness allowed--with a whole thread devoted to blogs that would be a good place to check)

The biggest conversation going on right now is about Ravelry, a Myspace-like place where knitters can post their stashes and projects and blog as well. The waiting list to get in is huge (over 15,000), and some of us are flat-out refusing to join anyways. Yeah, we'll probably join eventually if all the knitbloggers move on over there . . . *sigh*

The only fights we usually have is when someone calls something ugly. There were some bloggers who personally attacked other knitters (took pictures at conventions of their "ugly" pieces and then joked about it) and designers, but most knitbloggers were against them. Here's the main culprit (and she has serious readers, too): http://youknitwhat.blogspot.com/ (she's a bit of an acquired taste).

[Katherine Brengle]

9. What an unpleasant human being.

I rather liked the Elvis sweater - if it was a little more fitted I would don it proudly.

And I liked that little poncho thingie with the buttons.

One woman's ugly is another's treasure I guess ;).

I heart knitblogs, but I don't read them as often as I'd like.

[knitter4democracy]

11. Yeah, people got upset, which is why she stopped.

People got mad enough that she got tired of dealing with it all the time.

Knitblogs are fun! :) They're pretty much all I read anymore. I save politics for here.

[iverglas]

8. I'm still trying to figure out

why I am supposed to look at this or one of its companion pieces of trash just about every time I read a thread in my own Canada forum



and shut the fuck up about it. Or be called names and told to leave the site. (It's, uh, art by Elvgren; hint; gold star function ...)

[ismnotwasm]

10. I read about the story of Kathy Sierra

Over at I blame the patriarchy.

http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2007/04/13/asswad-world/

And this one she did on the Whole Topic I particularly like;
http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2007/04/27/big-whoop-of-the-week/

Fucked up ain't it?

(Kind of off topic, but I caught a story this morning, about a virtual sex site-- the owner is suing 'cause someone ripped his "avatar" software off. Evidently, you design your body, and what particular sex acts you would like to virtually indulge in. It's already been hit by those who think child porn is AOK. It's voluntary, you pay, and extremely creepy in my opinion.

Reminds me of the Sci-fi "Otherland" series by Tad Williams. The story line follows a virtual reality theme, where people can spent much of their time in virtual bodies. Heading many chapters is a "Netfeed"--a futuristic equivalent of our news. One of the headings was a court case where it was ruled that a young girl could not sue for harassment of her virtual body even though she was stalked and sexually assaulted.)